Page:A record of European armour and arms through seven centuries (Volume 1).djvu/45

 also much worn; a sword called that of Lancelot of the Lake, the hilt of iron fashioned like a key, and it is said to be an enchanted sword; the sword of the King of France who fought and vanquished a giant in Paris; the sword of the giant who was vanquished by the King of France in the Isle-Notre-Dame at Paris; the sword of the king who founded St. Denis (Dagobert); the dagger of Charlemagne with a rock-crystal hilt; battle-axes of Clovis, of the king who killed the giant, of St. Louis, of Bertrand du Guesclin, and others; the sword of Philippe-le-Bel; two swords of Charles VII, one called La bien aimée; a sword with the arms of Pope Calixtus (1455-58), which the late king (Charles VIII) caused to be put into his armoury; a sword called La Victoire (already described in detail); the sword of the King of Scotland given to Louis XI when he married Margaret of Scotland; a Papal sword sent to King Louis (XI ?); the sword of Louis XI called Estrefuse (already described); the two swords used by Charles VIII at the battle of Fornova, one of which he carried at his saddle-bow; the sword with which Jean de Brézé cut off the hand of a man-at-arms, gauntlet and all, besides other weapons described in the inventory. I think this may be regarded as truly a collection formed by a sovereign personally interested in preserving relics of the past; for it is necessary to distinguish between the collection and the arsenal or armoury. During the centuries when armour was in use, every town, every prince, almost every castle had an armoury or arsenal. One of these, hidden away in an old castle in the Tyrol, contains armour so amazing that when I saw it some thirty-seven years ago it seemed to me more like a glorious dream than a reality. And it did not contain a single weapon, every arm of offence had been carried away or destroyed, presumably during the wars which raged in those parts in the time of Napoleon. I counted forty complete suits of armour, of which I should say nearly one half were of the XVth century, some being of an earlier type than any existing elsewhere. Two of them were admirable examples of the Italian XVth century make. There were four pig-faced bascinets, three of which preserved their camails and two were adorned with brass. One had its own breastplate, both pieces being decorated with brass on which were long inscriptions. There was a pair of gauntlets of the same epoch as the bascinets, likewise decorated with brass, and many cuisses, greves, and other detached pieces of armour of the XVth century. There were eighteen salades, some of them of rare early form, and four armets with roundels. Besides this, there were two jousting suits, a magnificent suit for man and horse of the beginning of the XVIth century with its tilting-pieces, and a very beautiful Italian decorated suit of the middle of that century. I describe it from a hurried note taken at the time, and I learn that now the owner, a great Austrian nobleman, guards it so jealously that no one may visit it.